ZTE may not be all that well-known in certain parts of the world, but there is no denying that the company is one of the larger players when it comes to producing mobile phones for the Chinese market. And from the looks of it, it seems that one such ZTE-branded smartphone that will eventually make its way over to China is powered by none other than Microsoft's Windows Phone 7 operating system, with a few extra changes made to ensure that it plays nice with the local populace there.

Windows Phone 7 may be an excellent operating system for smartphones, but the fact that Microsoft has done little to market devices running off its operating system, along with its very late entry into the market, means that it has to compete against the likes of powerhouses such as iOS and Android for a slice of the smartphone pie. Which, as we all know, is definitely no easy task.

However, it seems that Microsoft might have a chance in China, for it is known that ZTE is planning to release a smartphone that will be powered by the "Mango" version of the Windows Phone 7 operating system. And to top if off, new images of that alleged smartphone have reportedly been released online by none other than ZTE's very own Dr. Luo Zhongsheng, who is said to be the company's head of smartphone development.

According to a report published by Wpcentral.com, the yet-unnamed smartphone will feature some cosmetic tweaks on the OS front, such as the use of custom wallpapers on the Start screen, as well as Chinese localization, as shown in the image below.

That being said, Wpcentral.com claims that the copy of Windows Phone 7 that comes bundled with ZTE's smartphone will lack Twitter support, ostensibly due to the Chinese's government's decision to ban the use of the popular microblogging platform in its territories. However, Chinese users will probably have nothing to lose, as the report also claims that in place of the missing feature is a preloaded app for Sina Weibo, a very popular domestic microblogging platform that is reportedly like a hybrid of Facebook and Twitter combined.

No other details about ZTE's upcoming smartphone has been revealed at this point, so do check back for updates.